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Postal Service customers create accounts through USPS.com to purchase products and services from more than 40 eCommerce applications. But is the personal information of the 24 million Customer Registration users of those applications adequately protected?

From fiscal year (FY) 2011 to FY 2013, the percentage of city letter carriers returning after 5 p.m. nationwide grew from 25 to 38 percent. This raises concerns for carriers’ safety and media reports suggest customers are not happy when their mail arrives after dark.

The package delivery market has been growing considerably. Between 2008 and 2013, the U.S. Postal Service experienced a more than 20 percent increase in package volume. The main reason is the growing popularity of e-commerce, particularly online shopping. American businesses and consumers spent more than $68 billion to ship packages domestically in 2013. E-commerce sales in the U.S. alone this year will top $430 billion; global e-commerce will exceed $1.5 trillion.

The Business Service Network (BSN), the U.S. Postal Service’s one-stop shop for its largest customers’ questions and concerns, could generate an additional $382 million in fiscal year 2014 by increasing customer outreach to all of the roughly 23,000 organizations the network serves.

3D printers build physical objects out of digital designs, usually by assembling powders, metals, plastics, and other materials layer-by-layer with tremendous precision. Because the digital designs can be endlessly tweaked and modified, 3D printing turns customers into creators and taps into the current trend of mass customization. The technology is starting to have a significant impact on the $10.5 trillion global manufacturing sector, and promises to democratize production and fundamentally change the supply chains of today.

The U.S. Postal Service has one of the largest civilian vehicle fleets in the world, with more than 190,000 vans and other vehicles used to collect and deliver mail. But the fleet is aging and 142,000 long-life vehicles are near or past their expected service life. The Postal Service has taken a fix as fail approach to servicing its delivery fleet, even though it would sometimes be more efficient to replace vehicles when they break down. At the same time, the agency has an acquisition strategy but it lacks detail and has not been implemented due to financial constraints.

The outside of an envelope can be an effective tool in law enforcement investigations. In fiscal year 2013 alone, the Postal Inspection Service processed about 49,000 mail covers that were used to protect national security, locate fugitives, obtain evidence, or help locate stolen property.

But significant privacy issues govern the handling of mailpieces and the information on them. For that reason, the Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service must follow detailed procedures before allowing a mail cover.

The U.S. Postal Service missed the opportunity to save more than $2 million annually in transportation-related costs in southern Florida because management did not have surface visibility (SV) system data it could rely on to identify unnecessary transportation and driver workhours, our recent audit found.

The Office of Inspector General is tasked with ensuring efficiency, accountability, and integrity in the U.S. Postal Service. We also have the distinct mission of helping to maintain confidence in the mail and postal system, as well as to improve the Postal Service’s bottom line.

The U.S. Postal Service is a labor-intensive organization; it spent about $47 billion on compensation and benefits in FY 2013, including about $6 billion for retirement benefits. As part of its effort to control personnel costs, the Postal Service has identified the need to create a new retirement plan for future employees.

It takes a lot of repair work to keep one of the nation’s largest vehicle fleets up and running. Make that 321 repair garages – or vehicle maintenance facilities – the U.S. Postal Service needs to keep its 211,000 aging vehicles in working order.

These garages must keep well stocked with a wide range of parts – everything from motors and transmissions to nuts and bolts – and maintenance personnel need to follow a number of safety procedures to protect these supplies.

“Big Data” — large, complex datasets combined with sophisticated, powerful analytics — is helping transform science, research, and many industries by providing a level of insights previously unavailable at unprecedented speed. For businesses in particular – including the mail and shipping industries – the knowledge gained from the real-time analysis of vast quantities of data has the potential to spur innovation on a higher scale as well as improve efficiencies and customer satisfaction.

No doubt about it, social media has revolutionized the world of communication and commerce, radically changing the way people decide what, where, and when to buy. Accordingly, most businesses and organizations now view social media as an opportunity to reach and engage large customer audiences in ways impossible before: directly, in-real time, and at lower cost.

Hard copy communications, and mail specifically, are not not the relic some claim them to be. Mail can still create a powerful connection with people of all ages. This is especially true when it is well designed and digitally interactive. Although senders pay for mail to be sent, catching recipients’ eyes determines the value of the communication. Without consumer interest in mailpieces like direct mail, catalogs, or bill reminders, the mail value chain breaks down.

The Postal Service is getting leaner. But as it trims its workforce it is also losing some of its most valuable resources: long- term employees with extensive knowledge that is vital to running a vast organization.